Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Hold Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $30.00 price target on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on WBA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $40.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $27.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $38.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Mizuho reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $36.23.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $22.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.63. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52-week low of $22.69 and a 52-week high of $42.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.58. The stock has a market cap of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.92, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $35.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.32 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.62% and a negative net margin of 2.44%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 18th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.45%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -50.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, EVP John Patrick Driscoll acquired 5,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.42 per share, for a total transaction of $146,988.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,678,201. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 705,949 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $20,112,000 after purchasing an additional 23,777 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at about $40,082,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 498,374 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $14,219,000 after acquiring an additional 8,041 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the second quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,358 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a pharmacy-led health and beauty retail company. It operates through two segments, the United States and International. The United States segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of retail products, including health, wellness, beauty, personal care, consumable, and general merchandise products through its retail drugstores.